AMR Research sized the 2007 market at $14 billion, a 12 percent jump over 2006 revenues. This represents the market’s most significant growth since the dot-com fallout at the turn of the century. While analysts may differ on the market’s exact size and rate of growth, all agree that software-as-a-service (SaaS) is the driving force. And despite some recent macroeconomic volatility, some experts forecast a continued climb for the CRM market. If so, SaaS will likely remain a major factor, but there still will be contributions from emerging niche markets, such as incentive management and open-source CRM. That’s why we’re introducing those categories to this year’s Market Leader Awards.

As one chapter begins, another chapter ends—much like Accenture’s five-year reign atop the Consultancies leaderboard. It’s not that Accenture is faltering much (though the firm did slip more than a point in its customer satisfaction score from last year). Actually, we’ve noticed an interesting new market approach. That’s why we’re honoring Kevin Bandy, a partner at the firm, as an Influential Leader for his work in helping companies assess the effectiveness of an organizational restructuring strategy—stuff that isn’t taught even in the best business schools. So who replaces the deposed king in the Consultancies category? Suffice to say that the heir to the throne impressed analysts with its focus on CRM.

I can’t highlight all of the market shifts and trends in this column, but you can get a lot more analysis in our full coverage of the 2008 CRM Market Awards. Congratulations to this year’s winners. And, for our readers, we hope you enjoy our most comprehensive Market Awards issue yet.

Mobile CRM has been around for years, but Apple's handheld device has upended everything. Now vendors are rewriting applications, companies are rethinking the BlackBerry's seeming stranglehold, and users are wondering what's next. The answer may be nothing less than a CRM revolution, and a chance for Apple to enter the enterprise.